BikerAl Across America 2018

This was a hot, sunny day and the trail had the most sun (fewer trees) than any other day.  But it was a good ride.  For the first time on this trip, I stopped for lunch before I got to camp because camp is out in the boonies and there is nothing here but a faucet and a shower house.  I knew that would be the case so my big meal for the day was lunch.  I have cheese and crackers and snickers for dinner.  Bought a bottle of wine and shared with John and Andre.  So nice to have met them.  We have a lot in common.

No snakes today, thank goodness.  The most common critter on this trail has been the big fat squirrels.  That are 3 to 4 times the size of any I’ve seen elsewhere.  One almost committed hair kari today when in ran in front of me and at the very last second turned back.  I could have gone down if I had run over him.  Fat little chub!

When I got into camp, I was so hot I tho’t I’d blow a gasket.  The entrance to this campground went straight up off the trail.  I took one look and said to myself that it wasn’t worth the effort to ride so I got off and walked.  And it was STEEP.  I had a hard time pushing my bike up but I’m sure that was way easier than trying to ride up.   So glad to be here. And I guess because we’re on top of the bluff, I can get internet.  Yeah!

Tomorrow should be the end of the KATY Trail.  Then,  my next big issue is finding a way across the MS River into Illinois.  Apparently, bridges from MO to IL are few and far betw.  I tho’t I had it all figured out but according to the locals, I don’t.  We’ll see.

40.6 miles today 1066.4 total

Sorry this is late. No internet last nite.

Guess this is gonna go where it wants. Top picture is of one lone rock that never eroded out of the cliff band.

Met several interesting cyclists. We shared accommodation stories. We’ve all had some interesting places to stay. Camping in a city park tonite with no internet but nice shower and grassy place to pitch a tent. We were warned to watch for ticks.

Hope to finish this trail in 2 days. I’ve had enough gravel trails, even though it is in very good shape. Just tiring because it requires constant pedalling.

I met John and Andre again and they are staying in this same campground.

Had sun all day today. It does wonders for one’s disposition. Passed the 1000 mile mark today.

I went to dinner in town (no internet connection) and just wanted a cold glass of chardonnay with dinner. The restaurants and bars don’t serve wine because it conflicts with the wineries. The guy was so nice. He told me to go across the street and buy a bottle and come back and have it with my meal .

Saw three snakes laying across the trail today.  I tho’t they were rattlers but a local told me they are black snakes.  One was about 4 ft long and more than an inch in diameter.  He was across the whole darn trail.  Barely missed running over his tail.  Creepy.

Picture below is of my favorite little turtle I’ve seen a lot. Hope you can see his orange polka dots on his front legs and neck. Really cute.

49.4 miles today .     1025.8 total

 

Top picture is from yesterday at Franklin. I was running away from storm clouds so didn’t read the two huge plates of info. Has something to do with the history of the railroad and/or trail. Sorry. Was in the panic mode. As you know I got off the trail at 9am due to more lightning than I could handle. Stayed in the most awesome BandB. It was an old school house, quite large, and remodeled into rooms with cool names. I was in the spelling bee room and had bees on the wall paper. An awesome room. I want to go back some day. Some of the other rooms were named poetry,Dick and Jane, graduate, prose, honor roll, school master, school marm, and, of course, principal’s office. That was the check in office. So cool.

Today’s ride was so much better. First day in I don’t know how long, there was no rain. I think the next three days are supposed to be decent so hope to be at the end by Thursday and back on paved roads.

If you look closely at the picture with foliage in it, at the top you can pick out a natural bridge. This was a landmark back in the old days. Kinda hard to see now with all the trees.

I had to ride up a ramp at the bridge leading into Jefferson City. There were 11 ramps in all. You are looking through a chain link fence. Then while crossing the bridge on the bike/ pedestrian path, there were hundreds of padlocks attached to the fence. Haven’t found out yet what that signifies.

The trail ever since Windsor has been real solid, even with all the rain, but maximum speed is still 9 mph. You have to pedal constantly, which is tiring.

I met two local cyclists today and picked their brain about the lack of food and accommodations near the trail. They explained that all along the MO River, the trail runs through the flood plain and most towns that used to be here have since died after certain floods. As I came into Jefferson City today, I saw markers near the river where the water level was in the 1993 flood. It was probably 10 ft over my head and I was standing near the bank where the water was at least 10-15 feet below me. I can’t even imagine the water being that high. No wonder the towns never came back. So now I know I carry extra food and have to go off route to find a place to stay.

I look forward to some sunshine and maybe three days of cruising instead of panic riding.

41.1 miles today. 976.4totalwere

 

Yesterday’s motel is still a puzzle to me. I think most of it was rented out to long term renters, even families. At least two of the rooms had 2 and 3 kids in them. I can’t imagine. And the one with three kids had a big dog.

So to continue my list of items worth mentioning, there was no waste basket, no clock, no hand towel, , but the microwave did work. I sat outside as much as I could to avoid the smoke smell.

I guess I expected cutesy little motels and B&B’s all along the trail, not poverty ridden towns. Oh, well, it is an experience.

I also noticed my first tick while showering. The nerve. But I dug him out and I’m pretty sure I got all of him.

Left early this morning to try to beat the rain and thunderstorms; didn’t happen. After 5 miles of lightning, I called it a day. That is the forecast for all day. I can take the rain, but not the lightning. And there weren’t any tunnels today. Weather is looking better the next couple days so will try to make up some miles.

Call me woosy if you want, but I was struck by lightning as a kid and not looking for a repeat. So I am holed up in a really nice School House Dormitory. Pampering myself today.

15.5 miles today. 935.3 total

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I don’t know what’s going on but I found yesterday’s post and lost today’s. This is really frustrating.

Anyway, this was a traumatic day for more reasons than one. The first 20 miles were great. Two pictures show the scenery along the way. But after 20 miles, a thunderstorm moved in and there was no where to go except keep riding the tree lined path. Then all of a sudden, God gave me a tunnel to take shelter in, which I did for 20-30 minutes. Once the storm blew over, I continued on in the rain, which I can handle. Just not lightning.

I stopped in the town before my destination and made a motel reservation. When I stopped at the information board right out of Boonville, my destination, I noticed I had two messages from the motel. I needed to be there within the hour as the clerk needed to go to a funeral. So I put it in to overdrive and made it in time.

This motel is over a mile out of town but all the others are even further up by the interstate. But this motel has NO non-smoking rooms and they are very sparse. No glass to drink out of, no bath mat, no working outlet to charge your phone and the chair is being held up by two bricks on one corner. Wow. I’ve never seen this sparse of a motel.

The laundry room was what I’d call dirty. And you had to Gerry rig the washer to get it started. A fellow renter helped me.

I bought food for dinner to heat up in the microwave. Sure hope it works. Haven’t tried the tv yet. I was really hoping for a nice evening to make up for all the rain and the thunderstorm. Not to happen, I guess.

43.7 miles today
919.7. Total

I don’t know what happened but I lost yesterday’s post so will try to remember what I wrote.

Picture above is the highest point on the Katy Trail. 955 feet. Woohoo.

So Thurs nite when the rain slowed down, I walked into town for food and when I got back, I had company in the picnic table shelter. The campground host felt sorry for me and said I could camp there, so my company did, too. We would have been like drowned rats if we hadn’t.

The couple, John and Andre, were also music teachers and very active in their community, music wise, so we had lots to talk about.

Started seeing several other cyclists on the trail going both directions. Even met a young girl pushing a cart. She plans to walk from St. Louis to somewhere in AZ. Hope she knows hot hot it’s gonna get in KS. Said she walks +/- 20 miles a day. We all have our little idiosyncrasies.

Short day since it rained so much. Trail was soft in places.

21.1 miles. 876.1 total

Fred drove me from Baldwin City to Pleasant Hill, MO to avoid that KS City metro area. My gosh, I could never live there. Too many cars and people. He dropped me off at the beginning of the Rock Island Spur of the Katy Trail which goes almost all the way across MO and mostly follows the MO River. It is a rails to trails path that I’ve always wanted to do. I will be foregoing the first 20 miles from Clinton, where it starts, to Windsor. Instead I rode 49 miles on the spur.

This trail is in much better shape than that Steamboat Trail I did a few days ago. This one was even enjoyable at times. Lots of cool wildflowers.

The top photo is Dames Rocket and the second one is Tradescantia. Both very prolific and in full bloom. And I saw purple verbena, which back home is an annual. I was surprised to see it along the path.

The thing that really surprised me was the size of the musk thistle plants that are here and there. Some were 3-4 feet tall and starting to form a head. I hope ours aren’t doing that back home. It’s too early to be dealing with those mothers.

The sky looked threatening most of
the day but it waited til I got to camp and showered before it let lose. Didn’t make it back into town to eat so raided my emergency stash. It hasn’t stopped since it started and I’m hungry. Looks like it could set in for the nite.

49.2 miles today. 855 total

A busy rest day here in the boonies of Kansas. Fred and Mary Ellen sold their house in Overland Park just this last week so he had one more trip to make to move out last minute stuff. Of course, being the grunt laborer I am, I helped him. We had a heavy walnut table and a 4×8 piece of plywood that was heavier than normal because it was a work of art. Plus lots of small stuff. When we got home, which is now on a farm in the boonies near Baldwin City, of course, we had to unload it all. By then, the temps had risen onto the 80’s and I was suffering from the heat.

Cleaned my bike and did some food shopping for the next day or so. Fred is going to drive me to the start of the Rock Island Spur of the Katy trail tomorrow morning.

Yesterday and today, while driving from here and there, Fred was a wealth of information about the history of the area. So the picture above is of the oldest active library in the state of Kansas in the little burg of Vinland. Note the notice on the door about the hours. The village has two churches, an airport and a few houses. And the cool thing, there were two picnic tables right beside the grass runway. Also, there is a company right there beside the runway that makes parts for antique airplanes.

Also, Nai Smith, was the preacher in one of the churches and invented the game of basketball in 1891. He was the first basketball coach at KS Univ and the only one with a losing record.

Like a said, Fred was a veritable fountain of information. He took me all over Douglas County and gave me the rural tour. Thank you, Fred.

Mary Ellen’s claim to fame was her smoked ribs. Certainly did not go hungry these two days. Thank you.

Yeah, Kansas today. Sorry this is late. I had no internet connection. Out here in the boonies.

Woke up to weather forecast of cloudy to partly cloudy all day. First day in a long time no mention of rain. However, as I stepped out to go, it started to sprinkle. Yeah, right. So my first 20 miles was all in the rain.

About two miles out of town, a fellow by the side of the road waves me down. Turned out to be Irv, a friend of a mutual cycling friend. He just wanted to meet me and talk. He was very encouraging of my trip. Nice way to start the day.

After 10 miles of hills, I dropped into the MO River Valley for the next 15-20 miles. Easy going, all flat, and soon became somewhat boring. (yeah, I know). I enjoy the ups and downs more than the never ending flat.

I went thru one ‘town’ today and if I can get the photo to upload, you will see the sign of the town I was to enter, a road coming from nowhere and the sign on the other side of the road. No buildings, nothing. I just stood there and gawked. This was a ‘town’? Funny to me.

I was to call a friend at 11:00 who was going to meet me today but I was at the bottom of a hill and no Mobil service. So I climbed out of the MO River valley and at the top of the hill, we connected.

As I approached Atchison, there was a huge mile + long hill that looked like an S. The highway I was on had no shoulder and plenty of semis. On shorter hills I always made sure no trucks were coming before I headed up and if one did come, I’d get off my bike and stand just off the road. Usually only had a foot of gravel to stand on without being in the ditch. Always a frustrating and nerve wracking situation but better than riding on the road with a truck who doesn’t want to get over on a hill and then risking being sucked in or blown over. When riding uphill, one is not always as stable as you’d like to be anyway. And, trying to start riding uphill after stopping is always a challenge because of no momentum and all the weight.

So when I saw that ongoing hill with no shoulder, I made the decision to wait for Fred Rose to get to me. I had just had a 2-3 mile downhill and really wanted to end my day on that rather than struggle up a long, dangerous hill. Anyway, Fred lives an hour from Atchison and he was going to pick me up in town so I could spend a day with him before going on so this was the perfect solution. He was only 15 minutes from meeting me when I called him. And while waiting for him, nine semis passed me that I would have had to get over for.

As we drove through Atchison, Fred pointed out historical facts about the town, one being that Atchison was the home of Amelia Earhart. We didn’t take time to visit the museum. Not really my thing.

Dinner at Fred’s house was fun. He invited several biking friends over so we all had lots to talk about. Thanks Fred and Mary Ellen for a fun evening.

Sorry about the double photo. Operator error. Don’t want to risk losing everything if I try to delete one.

48.5 miles today. 805.8 total

OK, this ranks as the worst day so far. I left NE City early as usual and my first turn off was onto a gravel road. Gravel! YUK! So last nite we had thunderstorms and a lot heavy rain. So glad to be in a motel.

The gravel road would have been ok except the hills were unreal. I don’t mind hills, in general, but straight up on loose gravel doesn’t cut it. I had to walk.

I finally ended up at the beginning of the Steamboat Trace bike trail. Of course, it was gravel, but I expected that. But with the excessive rain last nite, it was very saturated and not as solid as it should have been. Made for heavy pedalling. The first 10 miles weren’t too bad but the last 10 were brutal. So soft that I left one inch tire ruts in the surface. So hard to pedal.

By the time I got to the end, I was exhausted. Only 25 miles and I was ready to quit. But nothing for another 28 miles. No choice but to pedal on.

I met a couple on a tandem the last mile of that horrendous trail. I warned them of the conditions but like me, they had no choice. The last 6 miles of the trail had warning signs about rough conditions, be cautious. No kidding. My bike was so covered in MUD. I had to walk it thru parts and even had to scrape mud off at least 5 times before I could ride. My bike is NOT a mountain bike and all I could do was apologize and clean him off as best I could.

As soon as I got off that trail, of course, it started to rain. But the ‘town’ I ended up in was very small. The cafe was closed-Monday. Nothing was open and no place to stay. I would have. So I talked to my bike and said, “hey, we have no choice, must go on”. I apologized for all the mud. Couldn’t even find a place to hose him off.

So we rode on and the hills were no biggy. Left town with no shoulder. Turned into a rumble strip with a 12 inch shoulder and a drop off on the right. Very stressful to ride. But we survived.

Then it turned into NO shoulder. A few trucks so it was hairy. Then soon, we got a narrow shoulder with no rumble strip but it disappeared now and then. Really had to be on your toes. The last ten miles were heaven. A rumble strip with a 5-6 foot shoulder. I felt like I had my own highway. And I needed it because I was tired and was really tired of having to be so on my toes.

Got into town and believe it or not, things are closed here on Monday, like restaurants. Wierd.

Cleaned my bike and am just mellowing out. So tired tonite. A really HARD day.

54.7 miles today. 757.3 total